Athens Mutual Aid Network

Update 5/3/23: This grassroots community fund has been open for three years and has helped transition over $50,000 toward urgent community survival needs (In addition to over $30,000 AMAN helped distribute prior to moving to the OpenCollective platform). We're proud of what we've been able to do as a scraggly group of volunteers.

However- we need to pause all expenses for the time being so that we can evaluate the number of new rules from OpenCollective and update our processes. We will also use this time to transition the admin team and train new leaders.

We cannot confirm how long this process will take- thank you for your understanding and supporting us through this experiment in grassroots community resource redistribution.

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As of July 8th, 2020, AMAN had redistributed over $31,500 of wealth in our community! At that point we moved from venmo to opencollective!

Athens Mutual Aid Network (AMAN) is a horizontal network of community members and local organizations that bonded together in the midst of the multiple health, economic, and political crises that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are immigrant rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+ organizations, unions, and political groups that stand in solidarity with the medically, economically, and socially vulnerable communities of Athens. By coordinating the sharing of resources and promoting communication between local advocacy organizations, AMAN strives to support our community by advancing equity and the dignity, agency, and well-being of its members.

NEED AID?
- Submit a request: Make an Open Collective account if you don't already have one (upper right corner, click sign in then create an account). Come back to opencollective.com/athensmutualaidnetwork and submit a request (drop down menu upper right corner). Upload a copy, screenshot, or picture of the bill you need paid and your payment method (PayPal or bank account only) and submit your request! We can give up to $100 per household per month for as long as we have funds available for requests.
- Contact your Neighborhood Leader for non-monetary requests for aid, including diapers or food, SNAP or WIC assistance, resource connections for housing/rental assistance, education, or other needs. 

GIVE AID:
- Donate!
- Email [email protected] to get involved

Our group's founding mission and principles of alignment are here in this open letter: http://bit.ly/athensmutualaidletter

ABOUT OPEN COLLECTIVE:
After analyzing the use of Venmo to collect funds, the Athens Mutual Aid Network has decided to move to a fiscal sponsorship called Open Collective. First and foremost, Open Collective allows us to be democratic with the use of funds, allowing us to continue developing collective governance. We are able to be transparent with receiving and giving out funds. No one person holds or owns funds. With Venmo, there is a large tax liability for the person whose name is under the account, which means that we lose a cut of our donations to the federal government via taxes, but all that burden falls on one person. With Open Collective, they take a small cut up front to pay their staff and to keep their secure servers running so that our transactions are safe, taxes are filed correctly, and so that we keep everyone secure in their interactions with us. We will be able to refrain from becoming a 501(c)3 non-profit, so we can keep the flexibility and fluidity of our grassroots network.